John Degenkolb and Tom Dumoulin have both placed in the top ten of the opening prologue of Paris-Nice, with Degenkolb in sixth and Dumoulin in ninth.

It was a very impressive ride from Degenkolb who beat several of the top time trialists in in the sport with his time, averaging over 51 km/h over the 6.7 km course in Maurepas to put his just ten seconds behind stage winner Michal Kwiatkowski (Etixx-Quickstep). Meanwhile, Dumoulin came into the race unsure of his form after a recent bout of sickness but still pulled out a fast ride to finish just 13 seconds off the pace.

“When I was looking ahead to the race last week I was already thinking that I could have a good ride in the prologue as the shape is good, so I’m pleased to confirm that today,” Degenkolb said after the finish. “I concentrated on not making any mistakes on the course and it worked out well. To get a result in a stage like this you not only have to have great shape but you also need to have a perfect race so I am satisfied. There are some good opportunities in the coming days in the sprints now. There are a lot of fast guys here but I’m looking forward to sprinting again.”

Team Giant-Alpecin trainer Adriaan Helmantel also gave his input, saying: “John did a really good performance today, he was really motivated and he showed again that he’s on a good level ahead of the classics period. Tom did a good job too given the circumstances. Three days ago we were even slightly unsure whether he would make the start line when he was sick. But the result shows that even though he wasn’t on his strongest form he still has a good base level there.

“If he can go steady through the next two or three flatter days then he could turn it around and re-find the form he had in training ahead of the race for the end of the week. He has worked hard for this and until he got sick he was looking really good and motivated, so hopefully he will start feeling better here this week.”